Sport
14 August, 2026
2026 MCDFNL Round 18 Football Preview — Harcourt vs Navarre
Courtesy of their 214-point demolition of Avoca, Harcourt has leapfrogged Carisbrook into the top spot on the MCDFNL ladder.
However, for them to clinch the minor premiership, they’ll have to overcome a tricky Navarre test in a contest poised to be an exciting preview of the upcoming finals series.
Last weekend’s 35-goal barrage at Avoca Public Park was a shining example of the Lions’ established premiership credentials. While Billy Quirk, Mark Noonan and Joshua Hogg kept Avoca scoreless after half time, Harcourt’s forward line put on an offensive clinic with veteran Benjamin Leech one of six Lions to score three goals or more.
Currently averaging a staggering 126.7 points a game, that abundance of proficient marksmen has been instrumental to the Lions, who boast the league’s highest scoring attack, with Jed Rodda, Jack Threlfall, Mitchell McKnight, Baxter Gurd, Thomas Walters, Leech and Nathan Anderson among the competition’s top 25 goal-kickers.
Riley Bibby, Sam Rickard and Jack Mentha are also among that talented list, a trio who combined for 12 goals in Navarre’s recent 47-point victory over the Maryborough Giants.
After holding a narrow seven-point lead at quarter time, the Grasshoppers burst away from the Giants with an electrifying eight-goal second term in a display reminiscent of last season’s unlikely preliminary final berth.
Navarre are certainly capable of being the September giant slayers once again, but they have struggled breaking down elite defences like Harcourt, averaging 32.75 points against teams currently inside the top four.